This invention relates to a supply system and method of harvesting, inventorying, selecting and delivering tissue and implant products, with optional governmental, reporting and associated hardware including a mobile hand held electronic user device that synchronizes with a base system including features which provide feedback to the base system regarding the supplied product.
Medical procedures involving implantation of replacement tissue and devices have unique product supply requirements. For live tissue, there are supply issues including locating donors and keeping donated tissue alive, delivering and inventorying live tissue, as well as determining criteria for use of the tissue in a living patient. For this and other types of implants and tissue, there are further issues concerning size, shape, availability, surgical techniques, and, after implantation, monitoring. Finally, there are sales, accounting, and government regulatory reporting requirements. While many systems exist which address these issues, none provide an integrated solution which supports the user in the field, typically a sales/marketing representative or a representative of a provider of implant/tissue services.
The present invention provides a tissue and implant product acquisition and supply system which supports users in the field with a wireless phone line modem web served or free standing mobile hand-held device (hereinafter for ease of description as xe2x80x9cwireless hand held electronic devicexe2x80x9d) that synchronizes with a base system, such as a personal computer, private/public network based system, Web-server, etc.
FIG. 1 illustrates one embodiment of a typical tissue and implant supplier""s interface for a wireless hand held electronic device, e.g., a hand held personal digital assistant. It is to be understood that such a devices provides typical user options such as e-mail, voice messaging, personal lists, etc. This embodiment provides not only a conduit for channeling user requests to a supplier and responses from the supplier but also provides an extensible support infrastructure by capturing requirements, assisting in harvesting and tracking, including, for example, height/weight and body mass, deformations or abnormalities of the donor, placing orders, managing catalogs and inventory, in addition to delivering messages and providing e-mail and facsimile, etc., in the hand held""s databases; and synchronizing with databases of suppliers"" base systems. The availability of products, feedback on storage and use of products, and other essential information is kept up-to-date, including confirmation of orders placed and is always accessible by end-users in the supply system of the present invention.
Because of the unique procedural and specification requirements of tissue products and implants, the wireless device can be used to provide camera images of a target site to a supplier before, during and after surgery. The camera can, thus, be used to document the condition of tissue or implant immediately before and/or during or after surgery. Further, a Measuring System (such as the device of U.S. Pat. No. 5,832,422 to Wiedenhoefer the entire specification of which is hereby incorporated by reference as if explicitly set forth herein) can provide a set of precise measurements of the target to facilitate the selection of a tissue product or implant. Finally, a supplier can provide video output to the hand-held, e.g., to educate a surgeon in the use of a new device or to provide x-rays or CT/MRI scans, including a measurement marker on the x-ray or a reference scale on the CT/MRI scan so that the user can determine at least one of a size of the implant or tissue or any object in the image of any segment thereof or angle on the image. The foregoing are meant as exemplary embodiments only and not in any limiting sense.
Once a tissue product or device has been implanted, the product is assigned to a patient record and the patient receiving the product can be monitored and base system inventory can be adjusted by updating the databases resident on the supplier""s base station during a synchronization operation.
In such an embodiment, data regarding transactions involving products provided by suppliers is captured in databases stored in the wireless mobile hand-held device and these hand-held databases are synchronized with corresponding supplier databases stored on Web-servers, personal computers, etc., of supplier systems.
The present invention is thus a resource tool for medical provider users and supplier sales/marketing representatives alike. Using the present invention, up-to-date product information is instantly accessible through wireless communications or Phone Line modem, even to a surgeon performing surgery in an operating room. Additional advantages are the automation of the documentation and accounting processes between medical suppliers and medical facilities. Such advantages include, for example, an automated accounting process which results in a reduction of data input errors and unrecorded inventory movement. The invention can assist in providing expedited patient diagnosis, up to date product information and automated governmental reporting. It may also be used to show to potential donor families a high standard for care for the movement of donated tissues and may result in improvements in acquisition and distribution of precious donor tissue resulting in increased amounts of donor to patient activity. Appendix I is a table summarizing the supporting features of the present invention and the benefits that accrue to users as a result of these features.